Jan 31, 2006. /Lesprom Network/. A bi-national commission set up by the governments of Argentina and Uruguay in a bid to defuse an escalating dispute over the construction of two pulp plants on the Uruguayan side of a border river failed to reach an agreement after six months of talks, officials said on Monday, January 30, according to Dow Jones. The Uruguayan foreign ministry said in a statement Monday that the bi-national working group decided "to prepare two separate reports" given that "they could not reach a consensus to present a joint report," the Associated Press's Spanish-language service in Montevideo reported. After weeks of protest, Argentine officials are now threatening to take the dispute to the International Court at The Hague. Meanwhile, Uruguayan politicians have suggested calling on the Pope to settle the matter. Environmentalists and Greenpeace activists, supported by the mayor of the Argentine city of Gualeguaychu, began blocking access to bridges into Uruguay last month, creating long lines of mostly Argentine tourists heading back and forth into Uruguay and Brazil on summer vacation. Protesters and Argentine customs officials also detained and turned back 18-wheeler freight trucks carrying building supplies to the pulp mills from Chile. The two pulp mills are under construction in Fray Bentos, Uruguay. The $1.2 billion Orion plant will be operated by the Oy Metsa-Botnia AB consortium, consisting of Finnish companies M-Real Corporation, UPM-Kymmene Corp. and Metsaliitto Cooperative. The $660 million Celulosas de M'Bopicua, or CMB, plant will be run entirely by Spanish company ENCE. Argentines against the projects believe the plants will emit unpleasant fumes and pollute the river with toxins such as chlorine. Uruguayan officials say studies show that pollutants would be within internationally accepted standards and would generate jobs and investment that could boost exports by 15%.